Apply a layer of winter mulch to protect your perennials after the first few freezes.
Gardening Tasks by Month for Canton, MI
Gardening Tips
Canton, MI
Relax and dream about next year’s garden!
Bring in the evergreens for holiday decorations!
Save and inventory leftover seeds from your favorite plants for next spring; store them in airtight containers and keep them in a dry place.
Houseplants with large leaves benefit from being washed with a damp cloth to remove the dust.
When watering your houseplants, avoid using cold water because it may shock the plants; use tepid water instead.
Move your houseplants away from icy windows to prevent any chilling.
Use sand on icy walks instead of salt to avoid plant and grass damage.
If your houseplants have a sticky substance on the leaves and aphids underneath, spray with soapy water or insecticidal soap.
Check your houseplants for any insects, especially spider mites. Wash off mites by setting in the shower to wash off.
Stop fertilizing and reduce your watering by half for houseplants until active growth resumes.
Make sure that mulch is pulled back from tree trunks so that mice don’t hide and destroy the bark.
To help reduce winter damage to your lawn, minimize traffic on the frozen grass.
If the weather is dry, occasionally water your lawn, shrubs, and small trees.
Remember to remove any new fallen leaves from your lawn and gardens, as the leaves can block sunlight or encourage disease among your plants.
To protect tender perennials from harsh winter weather, build a wooden box with no top or bottom. Place it over the plants after the ground has frozen and fill with leaves.
Group houseplants near each other to form a support group to cope with the low humidity of most winter homes.
Check your fruit and vegetables in storage; throw away any that are damaged or diseased.
After a heavy snowfall, go out and gently shake the snow from evergreens. Work carefully because the frozen wood is brittle. Remove any broken limbs with a sharp saw.
Group houseplants near each other to form a support group to cope with the low humidity of most winter homes.
As houseplants are growing more slowly in December light, cut down on watering by half until active growth resumes. Hold off on fertilizing as well.
Make holiday wreaths from grapevines, greens, and dry seedpods.
If you’re in an area with snow, go out and gently shake the snow from evergreens after heavy snowfalls; frozen wood is brittle. Remove any broken limbs with a sharp saw.
Check the “bones” of your garden or landscape for visual appeal. Hedges, stone walls, and pathways all contribute to the underlying structure. Make a note of what you will change in the spring.
If iris foliage is hit with heavy frost, remove and destroy it to eliminate borer eggs.
Cover your compost pile to prevent rains and snows from leaching out nutrients.
Prune any dead or weak branches now, so that they do not break under the snow or ice.
This is a good time to start pruning dead and dangerous limbs from trees. These should be burned in case they harbor insects and disease. Apply tree paint to the wounds made in sawing off limbs.
Most plants and shrubs winter-kill because of alternate freezing and thawing, so it is a good idea to bank them up with snow.
Look over the stored vegetables frequently and remove decaying specimens.
